1,3-Butadiene is used as an intermediate in producing petrochemical products and demand therefor and value thereof are gradually increasing throughout the world. Such 1,3-butadiene is produced by naphtha cracking, direct dehydrogenation of butene, oxidative dehydrogenation of butene, or the like. However, since a naphtha cracking process has high energy consumption due to high reaction temperature and a problem that other basic oils other than 1,3-butadiene are produced in a surplus because the process is not highly selective for 1,3-butadiene. In addition, direct dehydrogenation of n-butene is not only thermodynamically disadvantageous, but also requires high-temperature and low-pressure conditions for the production of 1,3-butadiene with high yield due to being an endothermic reaction. Accordingly, direct dehydrogenation of n-butene is not suitable for industrial production of 1,3-butadiene.
Meanwhile, oxidative dehydrogenation of butene is a reaction in which butene and oxygen react with each other in the presence of a metal oxide catalyst to produce 1,3-butadiene and water. Since stable water is produced by the reaction, the reaction is thermodynamically advantageous. In addition, oxidative dehydrogenation of butene is exothermic, unlike direct dehydrogenation of butene, 1,3-butadiene may be obtained in a high yield even at a low reaction temperature as compared to direct dehydrogenation. Further, since oxidative dehydrogenation of butene does not require additional heat supply, it may become an effective stand-alone production process to meet demand for 1,3-butadiene.
However, in synthesis of 1,3-butadiene through oxidative dehydrogenation, heat is excessively generated due to oxidation reaction of producing COx which is a side reaction, an increase in an internal temperature of a catalyst bed due to heat generation may accelerate oxidation reaction of producing COx and the speed of side reaction of producing heavies. In this case, it is difficult to control to heat with filled-type pellets, and differential pressure increases.
Therefore, there is a need for development of a filled-type metal oxide catalyst that is used for oxidative dehydrogenation of butene and is capable of maintaining a high conversion rate by controlling heat generation and alleviating differential pressure under conditions of high gas space velocity (GHSV) and high pressure.